Chad Terhune
Sat, March 8, 2025
REUTERS
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez points to MMR vaccines in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
(Reuters) -As a measles outbreak spreads across West Texas, Dr. Ana Montanez is fighting an uphill battle to convince some parents that vitamin A - touted by vaccine critics as effective against the highly contagious virus - will not protect their children.
The 53-year-old pediatrician in the city of Lubbock is working overtime to contact vaccine-hesitant parents, explaining the grave risks posed by a disease that most American families have never seen in their lifetime - and one that can be prevented through immunization.
Increasingly, however, she also has to counter misleading information. One mother, she said, told her she was giving her two children high doses of vitamin A to ward off measles, based on an article posted by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nearly a decade before he became President Donald Trump's top health official.
"Wait, what are you doing? That was a red flag," Montanez said in an interview. "This is a tight community, and I think if one family does one thing, everybody else is going to follow. Even if I can't persuade you to vaccinate, I can at least educate you on misinformation."
Kennedy resigned as chairman of Children's Health Defense and has said he has no power over the organization, which has sued in state and federal courts to challenge common vaccines including for measles.
The organization did not respond to a request for comment.
As U.S. health and human services secretary, Kennedy has said vaccination remains a personal choice. He has also overstated the evidence for use of treatments such as vitamin A, according to disease experts.
The supplement does not prevent measles and can be harmful to children in large or prolonged doses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has been shown to decrease the severity of measles infections in developing countries among patients who are malnourished and vitamin A deficient, a rare occurrence in the United States.
"I'm very concerned about the messaging that's coming out," said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Health in Dallas. "It's somewhat baffling to me that we're relitigating the effectiveness of vaccines and alternative therapies. We know how to handle measles. We've had six decades of experience."
Andrew Nixon, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, did not respond to questions about Kennedy's handling of the measles outbreak. But commenting on a measles-related death in New Mexico, Nixon said on Thursday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "recommends vaccination as the best protection against measles infection."
Texas officials said on Friday that the state's measles outbreak had grown to 198 cases, including 23 people who were hospitalized. That includes the death of an unvaccinated school-age child at a Lubbock hospital last month.
New Mexico officials have tallied 30 cases and one death of an unvaccinated adult. Those are the first deaths from measles in the United States since 2015.
'I'M WILLING TO HOLD OFF'
A 29-year-old nurse who is the mother of three and is a self-described Kennedy fan visited Montanez's clinic on Thursday. She asked to be identified as Nicole C. - her middle name and last initial - to protect her family's privacy.
She said she values the doctor's advice and appreciated that she never felt judged for not fully vaccinating her school-age daughter and toddler twins - a boy and a girl - with a second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
After the initial shots, she said she grew more concerned about potential side effects from vaccines and embraced more natural supplements.
She said school officials told her that her daughter would have to miss 21 days of class if she remains under-vaccinated and was exposed to measles.
The risk of contact in Lubbock is real. Montanez called about a dozen families last month because they were exposed to measles in her own waiting room, which she shares with other doctors in the Texas Tech physicians group.
Still, Nicole could not go through with the vaccination during her visit this week. She said she and her husband had prayed about it and believed in their family's God-given immune systems.
"As a mom, you naturally think, 'Oh my goodness, I can't let my daughter miss 21 days of education.' But who knows what effects the vaccine could cause? That could be a lifetime of issues. I'm willing to hold off on the shot," she said.
Public health experts have said vaccines for measles and other diseases pose minimal risks of side effects and protect children and adults against diseases that once routinely killed many people.
As flu season worsened this winter, Nicole said she started giving her children a daily dose of strawberry-flavored cod liver oil, which is high in vitamin A, based on information other mothers had shared with her.
Montanez took her vaccine rejection in stride. The doctor said she has persuaded more than a dozen parents to get their children fully vaccinated in recent weeks.
"I think that leaving her and her family enough space to make their own decisions - and being available for any questions - is really my goal," Montanez said. "My hope is that at some point she's going to call me and say, 'Can we go and get the vaccine?'"
(Reporting by Chad Terhune in Los Angeles; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Will Dunham)
Texas cities run short of MMR vaccine as measles outbreak drives demand
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez points to MMR vaccines in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Ana Montanez poses for pictures amidst a measles outbreak in Lubbock, Texas
(Reuters) -As a measles outbreak spreads across West Texas, Dr. Ana Montanez is fighting an uphill battle to convince some parents that vitamin A - touted by vaccine critics as effective against the highly contagious virus - will not protect their children.
The 53-year-old pediatrician in the city of Lubbock is working overtime to contact vaccine-hesitant parents, explaining the grave risks posed by a disease that most American families have never seen in their lifetime - and one that can be prevented through immunization.
Increasingly, however, she also has to counter misleading information. One mother, she said, told her she was giving her two children high doses of vitamin A to ward off measles, based on an article posted by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nearly a decade before he became President Donald Trump's top health official.
"Wait, what are you doing? That was a red flag," Montanez said in an interview. "This is a tight community, and I think if one family does one thing, everybody else is going to follow. Even if I can't persuade you to vaccinate, I can at least educate you on misinformation."
Kennedy resigned as chairman of Children's Health Defense and has said he has no power over the organization, which has sued in state and federal courts to challenge common vaccines including for measles.
The organization did not respond to a request for comment.
As U.S. health and human services secretary, Kennedy has said vaccination remains a personal choice. He has also overstated the evidence for use of treatments such as vitamin A, according to disease experts.
The supplement does not prevent measles and can be harmful to children in large or prolonged doses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has been shown to decrease the severity of measles infections in developing countries among patients who are malnourished and vitamin A deficient, a rare occurrence in the United States.
"I'm very concerned about the messaging that's coming out," said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Health in Dallas. "It's somewhat baffling to me that we're relitigating the effectiveness of vaccines and alternative therapies. We know how to handle measles. We've had six decades of experience."
Andrew Nixon, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, did not respond to questions about Kennedy's handling of the measles outbreak. But commenting on a measles-related death in New Mexico, Nixon said on Thursday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "recommends vaccination as the best protection against measles infection."
Texas officials said on Friday that the state's measles outbreak had grown to 198 cases, including 23 people who were hospitalized. That includes the death of an unvaccinated school-age child at a Lubbock hospital last month.
New Mexico officials have tallied 30 cases and one death of an unvaccinated adult. Those are the first deaths from measles in the United States since 2015.
'I'M WILLING TO HOLD OFF'
A 29-year-old nurse who is the mother of three and is a self-described Kennedy fan visited Montanez's clinic on Thursday. She asked to be identified as Nicole C. - her middle name and last initial - to protect her family's privacy.
She said she values the doctor's advice and appreciated that she never felt judged for not fully vaccinating her school-age daughter and toddler twins - a boy and a girl - with a second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
After the initial shots, she said she grew more concerned about potential side effects from vaccines and embraced more natural supplements.
She said school officials told her that her daughter would have to miss 21 days of class if she remains under-vaccinated and was exposed to measles.
The risk of contact in Lubbock is real. Montanez called about a dozen families last month because they were exposed to measles in her own waiting room, which she shares with other doctors in the Texas Tech physicians group.
Still, Nicole could not go through with the vaccination during her visit this week. She said she and her husband had prayed about it and believed in their family's God-given immune systems.
"As a mom, you naturally think, 'Oh my goodness, I can't let my daughter miss 21 days of education.' But who knows what effects the vaccine could cause? That could be a lifetime of issues. I'm willing to hold off on the shot," she said.
Public health experts have said vaccines for measles and other diseases pose minimal risks of side effects and protect children and adults against diseases that once routinely killed many people.
As flu season worsened this winter, Nicole said she started giving her children a daily dose of strawberry-flavored cod liver oil, which is high in vitamin A, based on information other mothers had shared with her.
Montanez took her vaccine rejection in stride. The doctor said she has persuaded more than a dozen parents to get their children fully vaccinated in recent weeks.
"I think that leaving her and her family enough space to make their own decisions - and being available for any questions - is really my goal," Montanez said. "My hope is that at some point she's going to call me and say, 'Can we go and get the vaccine?'"
(Reporting by Chad Terhune in Los Angeles; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Will Dunham)
Texas cities run short of MMR vaccine as measles outbreak drives demand
Melody Schreiber
Sat, March 8, 2025
THE GUARDIAN
A health worker preps a MMR vaccine in Lubbock, Texas, on 1 March
.Photograph: Annie Rice/EPA
As measles cases continue to grow in Texas and New Mexico, with a second death, an unvaccinated adult, reported on Thursday, some Texas cities are seeing shortages amid soaring demand for the highly effective vaccine and as the top US health official, Robert F Kennedy Jr, sows disinformation and mistrust about vaccines.
Ann and Paul Clancy were picking up medications at their local Walgreens in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday and decided to ask the pharmacist about getting the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The pharmacist said that they were “totally out, and she didn’t know exactly when they would be getting more”, Ann said.
Related: Measles outbreak: how contagious is it and what are the symptoms?
The Clancys wanted to get vaccinated because they have followed the outbreak in the news, including the first measles case detected in Austin last week – an unvaccinated infant who had traveled recently and was not considered part of the wider outbreak of cases.
In addition to keeping themselves safe, the Clancys want to protect their grandchildren and family members with health vulnerabilities.
The pharmacist also mentioned that even doctors’ offices were “having a hard time keeping enough vaccines for kids who needed them”, Ann said.
There are now 198 known cases, 23 hospitalizations and one death from measles in Texas, and 30 known cases and one death in New Mexico.
When customers call Walgreens locations in Austin, they are still able to book appointments for the MMR vaccine – but pharmacists say the doses are out of stock, and that’s true all over the city.
None of the Austin-area Walgreens had MMR vaccines in stock on Thursday, pharmacists said.
Vaccines at CVS pharmacy locations in Austin were also scarce. At least one pharmacy had a few doses left on a first-come, first-served basis. But at another location, the pharmacist said on Friday, “Basically, every location within a 30-mile radius is out.”
At least one CVS in Lubbock – where most of the hospitalized measles patients are being treated – had also run out of stock on Thursday. Some pharmacies in Fort Worth also ran out of the vaccines or had just a handful of doses left on Friday.
Pharmacies at H-E-B, the grocery chain, in Austin are now limiting MMR vaccines to those most at risk, including people born before 1989 who may have only received one dose.
The distributor at Walgreens temporarily ran low on MMR vaccines “due to the spike in demand”, said Carly Kaplan, director of pharmacy communications at Walgreens. But “additional shipments have been arriving this week,” Kaplan said.
“We’re seeing increased demand for the MMR vaccine, but we do still have doses available across our Texas pharmacies and clinics,” said Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications at CVS Pharmacy. “We’re working to get additional vaccine to Texas as quickly as possible.”
H-E-B did not respond to the Guardian’s press inquiry by publication time.
Because measles is such an infectious disease, and the outbreak is already so advanced, it’s difficult to trace contacts and conduct ring vaccinations, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Instead, officials should focus on “getting the word out about the importance of vaccinating” and countering misinformation about home remedies, like vitamins, that don’t prevent measles, Hotez said.
In areas with lower vaccination rates, “measles can accelerate”, Hotez said. “Measles is a great exploiter of unvaccinated and undervaccinated populations.”
Williamson county, which contains the northern part of Austin, had a 94.87% rate of MMR vaccination among kindergartners in 2023, according to data from the Texas department of health and human services.
That’s close to the 95% goal that creates population immunity, also called herd immunity, which protects those who are too young to be vaccinated or who don’t respond well to vaccines because they are immune-compromised.
But Travis county, which contains most of Austin, had a rate of 89.61% in 2023 – down from 95.5% in 2020.
The anti-vaccine movement started in the early 2000s and picked up steam in the 2010s, but vaccine hesitancy really surged during the Covid pandemic.
“Now you’re seeing it spill over, once again, into childhood immunizations,” Hotez said. In Texas, “we’ve had a steep rise in personal belief exemption requests – now we’re getting over 100,000.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which falls under the US Department of Health and Human Services, is investigating a repeatedly debunked link between vaccines and autism, according to Reuters.
Kennedy has been a major figure in the anti-vaccine movement, as the former chairman of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense and the author of several anti-vaccine books.
In an op-ed on Sunday, Kennedy highlighted the importance of vaccines but stopped short of recommending vaccination, instead framing it as a “personal” choice. He wrote about patients dying “with, or of, measles” in the 19th century, casting doubt on the virus’s lethality.
Kennedy, who has no medical background, also amplified the role of vitamin A in measles treatment, but the vitamin does not prevent measles. Nor does cod liver oil, which Kennedy promoted in interviews this week.
It’s unusual for a US health secretary to address outbreaks, Hotez said. Usually state and local health departments take the lead, with the CDC advising or coordinating responses across states.
“The fact that he decided to insert himself, in that role, is interesting, but then to spread disinformation – that really is outrageous,” Hotez said.
Offering remedies such as vitamin A over vaccines “gives people this false sense of security”, Hotez said.
“It’s dangerous because people could make the incorrect decision not to get their kids vaccinated, falsely believing that there are alternatives that actually don’t work – and the result is, if there is a measles epidemic, their child could be hospitalized or worse.”
To halt the outbreak, Hotez said, officials need to stage a major vaccination campaign, “both in terms of setting up vaccine clinics and making them accessible and doing the necessary advocacy around it”.
Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arrived in Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, a CDC spokesperson said.
The agency has provided 2,000 doses of the MMR vaccine to officials in Texas and neighboring jurisdictions, and “[the] CDC continues to recommend the MMR vaccine as the best way to prevent measles for children and adults”, the spokesperson said.
But the agency’s advice on vaccines now diverges from past approaches to infectious disease outbreaks in a key way.
“The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” the CDC spokesperson said.
One in five unvaccinated measles patients usually need to be hospitalized, and nearly one-fifth of children develop pneumonia. One in 600 babies who are not yet eligible for vaccines suffer from a fatal neurological complication, and about one in 1,000 children develop encephalitis, or brain swelling, which can lead to seizures, loss of hearing and intellectual disabilities.
Measles can also cause immune amnesia, where patients’ immune systems “forget” previous infections and vaccinations.
One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective at preventing measles, and two doses are 97% effective. The vaccine is usually given at one year of age, but it can be given as early as six months to protect very young children from the risks of measles.
The CDC on Friday issued a health alert on the “expanding” outbreak, urging providers to be alert to cases and highlighting MMR vaccination.
“We’ve had, now, two deaths and the epidemic is not waning,” Hotez said. “It still has a lot of momentum behind it, and I don’t see it abating anytime soon, unfortunately,”
Paul Clancy hopes that vaccines become a much bigger priority in Texas’s response before more people are sickened or die.
As measles cases continue to grow in Texas and New Mexico, with a second death, an unvaccinated adult, reported on Thursday, some Texas cities are seeing shortages amid soaring demand for the highly effective vaccine and as the top US health official, Robert F Kennedy Jr, sows disinformation and mistrust about vaccines.
Ann and Paul Clancy were picking up medications at their local Walgreens in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday and decided to ask the pharmacist about getting the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The pharmacist said that they were “totally out, and she didn’t know exactly when they would be getting more”, Ann said.
Related: Measles outbreak: how contagious is it and what are the symptoms?
The Clancys wanted to get vaccinated because they have followed the outbreak in the news, including the first measles case detected in Austin last week – an unvaccinated infant who had traveled recently and was not considered part of the wider outbreak of cases.
In addition to keeping themselves safe, the Clancys want to protect their grandchildren and family members with health vulnerabilities.
The pharmacist also mentioned that even doctors’ offices were “having a hard time keeping enough vaccines for kids who needed them”, Ann said.
There are now 198 known cases, 23 hospitalizations and one death from measles in Texas, and 30 known cases and one death in New Mexico.
When customers call Walgreens locations in Austin, they are still able to book appointments for the MMR vaccine – but pharmacists say the doses are out of stock, and that’s true all over the city.
None of the Austin-area Walgreens had MMR vaccines in stock on Thursday, pharmacists said.
Vaccines at CVS pharmacy locations in Austin were also scarce. At least one pharmacy had a few doses left on a first-come, first-served basis. But at another location, the pharmacist said on Friday, “Basically, every location within a 30-mile radius is out.”
At least one CVS in Lubbock – where most of the hospitalized measles patients are being treated – had also run out of stock on Thursday. Some pharmacies in Fort Worth also ran out of the vaccines or had just a handful of doses left on Friday.
Pharmacies at H-E-B, the grocery chain, in Austin are now limiting MMR vaccines to those most at risk, including people born before 1989 who may have only received one dose.
The distributor at Walgreens temporarily ran low on MMR vaccines “due to the spike in demand”, said Carly Kaplan, director of pharmacy communications at Walgreens. But “additional shipments have been arriving this week,” Kaplan said.
“We’re seeing increased demand for the MMR vaccine, but we do still have doses available across our Texas pharmacies and clinics,” said Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications at CVS Pharmacy. “We’re working to get additional vaccine to Texas as quickly as possible.”
H-E-B did not respond to the Guardian’s press inquiry by publication time.
Because measles is such an infectious disease, and the outbreak is already so advanced, it’s difficult to trace contacts and conduct ring vaccinations, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Instead, officials should focus on “getting the word out about the importance of vaccinating” and countering misinformation about home remedies, like vitamins, that don’t prevent measles, Hotez said.
In areas with lower vaccination rates, “measles can accelerate”, Hotez said. “Measles is a great exploiter of unvaccinated and undervaccinated populations.”
Williamson county, which contains the northern part of Austin, had a 94.87% rate of MMR vaccination among kindergartners in 2023, according to data from the Texas department of health and human services.
That’s close to the 95% goal that creates population immunity, also called herd immunity, which protects those who are too young to be vaccinated or who don’t respond well to vaccines because they are immune-compromised.
But Travis county, which contains most of Austin, had a rate of 89.61% in 2023 – down from 95.5% in 2020.
The anti-vaccine movement started in the early 2000s and picked up steam in the 2010s, but vaccine hesitancy really surged during the Covid pandemic.
“Now you’re seeing it spill over, once again, into childhood immunizations,” Hotez said. In Texas, “we’ve had a steep rise in personal belief exemption requests – now we’re getting over 100,000.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which falls under the US Department of Health and Human Services, is investigating a repeatedly debunked link between vaccines and autism, according to Reuters.
Kennedy has been a major figure in the anti-vaccine movement, as the former chairman of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense and the author of several anti-vaccine books.
In an op-ed on Sunday, Kennedy highlighted the importance of vaccines but stopped short of recommending vaccination, instead framing it as a “personal” choice. He wrote about patients dying “with, or of, measles” in the 19th century, casting doubt on the virus’s lethality.
Kennedy, who has no medical background, also amplified the role of vitamin A in measles treatment, but the vitamin does not prevent measles. Nor does cod liver oil, which Kennedy promoted in interviews this week.
It’s unusual for a US health secretary to address outbreaks, Hotez said. Usually state and local health departments take the lead, with the CDC advising or coordinating responses across states.
“The fact that he decided to insert himself, in that role, is interesting, but then to spread disinformation – that really is outrageous,” Hotez said.
Offering remedies such as vitamin A over vaccines “gives people this false sense of security”, Hotez said.
“It’s dangerous because people could make the incorrect decision not to get their kids vaccinated, falsely believing that there are alternatives that actually don’t work – and the result is, if there is a measles epidemic, their child could be hospitalized or worse.”
To halt the outbreak, Hotez said, officials need to stage a major vaccination campaign, “both in terms of setting up vaccine clinics and making them accessible and doing the necessary advocacy around it”.
Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arrived in Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, a CDC spokesperson said.
The agency has provided 2,000 doses of the MMR vaccine to officials in Texas and neighboring jurisdictions, and “[the] CDC continues to recommend the MMR vaccine as the best way to prevent measles for children and adults”, the spokesperson said.
But the agency’s advice on vaccines now diverges from past approaches to infectious disease outbreaks in a key way.
“The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” the CDC spokesperson said.
One in five unvaccinated measles patients usually need to be hospitalized, and nearly one-fifth of children develop pneumonia. One in 600 babies who are not yet eligible for vaccines suffer from a fatal neurological complication, and about one in 1,000 children develop encephalitis, or brain swelling, which can lead to seizures, loss of hearing and intellectual disabilities.
Measles can also cause immune amnesia, where patients’ immune systems “forget” previous infections and vaccinations.
One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective at preventing measles, and two doses are 97% effective. The vaccine is usually given at one year of age, but it can be given as early as six months to protect very young children from the risks of measles.
The CDC on Friday issued a health alert on the “expanding” outbreak, urging providers to be alert to cases and highlighting MMR vaccination.
“We’ve had, now, two deaths and the epidemic is not waning,” Hotez said. “It still has a lot of momentum behind it, and I don’t see it abating anytime soon, unfortunately,”
Paul Clancy hopes that vaccines become a much bigger priority in Texas’s response before more people are sickened or die.
No comments:
Post a Comment